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Diamondbacks clinch playoff berth, lose Gonzo for remainder of season

Good news, bad news for Arizona

Posted: Wednesday, September 25, 2002

By The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- A day after the Arizona Diamondbacks lost Luis Gonzalez, the World Series champions made it back into the playoffs.

Edgar Renteria singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 victory Tuesday night that extended Arizona's losing streak to five. But the Diamondbacks clinched a playoff berth 90 minutes later when Los Angeles lost to Colorado 1-0.

Edgar Renteria singled home the winning run off Mike Fetters (3-3) with two outs in the ninth after Arizona tied it in the top half against Jason Isringhausen (3-2).

Gonzalez, who got the hit that won last year's World Series, separated his left shoulder and tore ligaments when he collided with teammate Tony Womack in Monday night's game.

Giants 12, Padres 3

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds hit his 45th homer and Benito Santiago drove in four runs as San Francisco widened its wild-card lead to three games over Los Angeles, which has five game left.

Russ Ortiz (14-10) won his sixth straight start for the Giants, allowing three runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Bonds has 612 career homers. He also drew his major league-leading 64th and 65th intentional walks, giving him 193 total.

Rockies 1, Dodgers 0

LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Denny Stark (11-3) improved to 2-0 in four games against Los Angeles, allowing one hit -- a first-inning single by Brian Jordan -- in seven innings.

The Dodgers were held to just three hits in losing their third in a row and 10th in 17 games.

Todd Zeile hit an RBI single in the first off Odalis Perez (15-10) as Colorado won its fourth straight. Jose Jimenez pitched the ninth for his 41st save.

Brewers 3, Astros 1

HOUSTON -- Wayne Franklin (2-1), traded by Houston on Sept. 3, beat his former team for the second time in five days, allowing one run and four hits in six innings. Mike DeJean got three outs for his 26th save.

The Astros, whose ballpark has a retractable roof, had their first rain delay at home since the early 1960s. The start of the game at Minute Maid Park was delayed by 19 minutes because of rain. Team officials elected to use a tarp to cover the infield before deciding to close the roof.

Roy Oswalt (19-8) was thwarted in his third attempt to become a 20-game winner, giving up three runs and six hits in eight innings.

Reds 1, Cubs 0

CHICAGO -- Jimmy Haynes (15-9) allowed three hits in six innings.

Sammy Sosa, who needs two homers in the final five games to reach 500 and to become the first player in major league history to have five 50-homer seasons, went 0-for-4 and struck out three times -- twice against Haynes -- and also popped out.

Aaron Boone homered in the first off Kerry Wood (11-11), who had been 7-1 against Cincinnati. Scott Williamson pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

Marlins 9, Expos 6

MONTREAL -- Juan Encarnacion and Mike Lowell each homered twice.

Encarnacion, who tied a career high with five RBIs, hit a three-run homer off Britt Reames (1-4) in the third. He singled in the fifth, tripled in the seventh and his a two-run homer off Scott Stewart in the ninth.

Lowell hit a solo homer in the second to reach 20 homers for the second time in three seasons and added a three-run drive in the seventh off Dan Smith.

Montreal's Vladimir Guerrero, who has 40 steals, hit his 39th homer in the fifth off Carl Pavano (6-10).

Phillies 5, Braves 3

PHILADELPHIA -- Travis Lee and Pat Burrell each had two RBIs and Eric Junge (2-0) pitched 4 2-3 innings of one-run, four-hit relief. Starter Vincente Padilla left after one out due to tightness in his right shoulder.

The Phillies (79-78), trying for consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1982-83, have won four straight to move one game over .500.

The NL East champion Braves have lost three of four. Tom Glavine (18-11) walked a season-high six and hit a batter, giving up five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings.

Pirates 6, Mets 3

PITTSBURGH -- Pinch-hitter Adrian Brown had a two-run single as Pittsburgh rallied for four runs in the eighth. The Mets dropped their 82nd game, assuring their first losing season since 1996.

Scott Sauerbeck (5-4) won, and Mike Williams pitched the ninth for his 45th save. Mark Guthrie (5-3) was the loser.